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Better Together: All Five West Michigan Christian Schools Come Together for an Annual Fundraiser

Over the past three years, the WMCS Golf Outing has made a difference in the lives of thousands of students who attend any one of our five West Michigan Christian Schools and their families. Whether by raising funds or by providing a fun 5-school community event of fellowship, this best-ball tournament is successful and well-attended every year.

“We sold out a week before the event,” explained GHC’s Kristin Clausing. “That’s a first for us! In years past, we always had room for foursomes to sign up the day of.” The WMCS golf event committee encourages golfers to get their foursomes in early next year to reserve a spot.

Barb Sikkenga catered breakfast for the WMCS 2018 Golf Outing. She also served lunch!

I enjoy golfing but I also love to serve our 5-school community!

The event, held at Grand View Golf Course at Double JJ Resort in New Era, was catered by Barb Sikkenga, whose granddaughter currently attends Fremont Christian School and three children graduated New Era Christian School and Western Michigan Christian High School. Also on the WMCS Collaborative Board, Sikkenga served a lovely continental breakfast complete with her famous cinnamon rolls. “I enjoy golfing but I also love to serve our 5-school community!” shared the service-minded Sikkenga.

When the golfers completed the course, they enjoyed a delicious picnic style lunch also catered by Sikkenga complete with pulled pork sliders, sides, and dessert. WMCS is so grateful for the generosity of the Sikkenga family— a sincere thank you to you and Brian for your ongoing support in our school community!

This year, Denise Belknap of WMC and one of the golf event coordinators, provided golfers with something new at hole #11. Belknap, who also serves as Director of Advancement for WMC, enlisted the help of WMC student golfers Daniel Vanbiesbrouk and Elizabeth Vos who, for a cash donation, gave the golf teams the option of using their best ball. Many teams did! If they did not use one of the students’ balls, they received a long string of raffle tickets for the luncheon prize drawing. Thank you for your service, Daniel and Elizabeth! You made hole #11 the most fun of all!

Check out Daniel’s near hole-in-one in the video below:

And the 2018 WMCS Golf Outing Winner’s Were…

First place went to (pictured left to right) Rick Ray, Tyler Ray, Caleb Johnson, and Brian Sikkenga. They won an overnight stay golf or ski package at Crystal Mountain. Second place was awarded to (pictured left to right) Jon Brower, Chad Kamphuis, Caleb Ledger, and Kevin Kamphuis. The foursome won and a round of golf at Pilgrim’s Run. Third place foursome was (pictured left to right) Scott Edema, Joel VandenBrand, Todd VandenBrand, and Todd Clarkin winning a round of golf at Grand Haven Golf Course.

1st Place Champions of the WMCS 2018 Golf Outing

First place went to (pictured left to right) Caleb Johnson, GHC’s Tyler Ray, Rick Ray, and Brian Sikkenga. They won an overnight stay golf or ski package at Crystal Mountain.

2nd Place

Second place was awarded to (pictured left to right) Jon Brower, Chad Kamphuis, Caleb Ledger, and Kevin Kamphuis. The foursome won and a round of golf at Pilgrim’s Run.

3rd Place

Third place foursome was (pictured left to right) Scott Edema, Joel VandenBrand, Todd VandenBrand, and Todd Clarkin winning a round of golf at Grand Haven Golf Course.

Event Fundraising Update & Tally:

This annual fundraiser garners donations for the WMCS 5-school collaborative. This year, the five principals announced that 100% of the event’s funds would be going to something new and very specific.

Dan DeKam shared, “The WMCS 5-school collaborative strives for excellence, relevance, and resonance in Christian Education. We also aim to transform young lives for Christ. That’s why we are excited to announce the launch of a new instructional framework called Teaching for Transformation (TfT). Over the next three years, training in TfT will equip our PK-12 teachers with more effective tools with which to integrate faith and learning. Our schools have always pursued excellence in all areas of instruction and we are enthusiastic about the way that TfT will help our students develop a strong Christian perspective on learning and a desire to live a life of gratitude. Each of you plays a powerful role in preparing and equipping our teachers to better train up our students by participating in our golf outing as a sponsor and golfer. Thank you so much for coming and supporting WMCS!”

The West Michigan Christian Schools (WMCS) collaborative system of schools strives for excellence, relevance, and resonance in Christian Education. We also aim to transform young lives for Christ. That’s why we are excited to announce the launch of a new instructional framework called Teaching for Transformation (TfT).

DeKam went on to explain that the total fee for the 3-year TfT training program is $55K. The Golf Outing successfully raised almost $20,000, which puts us on right track in year one of three.

Teachers had their first introductory TfT training this past summer and will reconvene again this fall for more. As our faculty from all five schools dig deeper into this new instructional framework, more stories about TfT will be shared on the WMCS blog.

The Teaching for Transformation (TfT) instructional framework is a 3-year training program for the 5-schools WMCS faculty. The 2018 WMCS Golf Outing raised almost $20,000 toward our $55k goal.

BETTER TOGETHER: The WMCS Golf Outing is an All-School Effort

Hosted and coordinated by the WMCS Golf Committee, the event was a collaborative effort led by a representative from each of our 5 schools. The WMCS Golf Committee included Heidi Snyder of FCS, Phil Morse of NEC, Lisa Taylor of MCS, Kristin Clausing of GHC,Denice Belknap of WMC, and Kimberlee Mitchell, who reps for the WMCS 5-school collaborative.

The WMCS Golf Outing Committee: (Pictured left to right) Heidi Snyder of FCS, Lisa Taylor of MCS, Kristin Clausing of GHC and Kimberlee Mitchell, who reps for the WMCS 5-school collaborative, and Denice Belknap of WMC. Not pictured is Phil Morse of NEC.

Our Fabulous & Faithful Sponsors

The event was supported and sponsored by those who were led by the Lord to donate. We received a variety of prizes and financial contributions to assist in making this event a success.

A special “Thank You” to our top event sponsors: Abbit Management, JOST, Calvin College, Cherette Group and Summit Laboratory.

Abbit is a loyal WMCS 2018 Golf Outing Sponsor!

Calvin College is a loyal WMCS Golf Outing sponsor and always has a foursome in attendance!

JOST is a loyal WMCS Golf Outing sponsor with a foursome in the tourney annually.

The Cherette Group is a new 2018-19 Golf Outing Sponsor!

Summit Laboratory was a 2018-19 WMCS Golf Outing sponsor and also had a foursome in the tournament.

WMCS thanks all sponsors and everyone who came out to play and help make the event such a success. Be sure to sign up early next year to secure a spot!

To see the full PHOTO GALLERY GO TO THE WMCS FACEBOOK PAGE! https://www.facebook.com/WMCSchools/photos/

This article appeared in the WMCS Faith Matters Fall 2018 Newsletter. Download a copy to read the full news update!

What is WMCS?

West Michigan Christian Schools (WMCS) is a collaborative system of five schools throughout the Lakeshore region of Western Michigan, that work under a “Better Together” philosophy, offering a top-quality, PK-12 Christian education experience and a full scope of academic and extracurricular programs. Benefiting from close cooperation and a seamless curriculum, our schools collaborate to formulate strategy and execute the necessary plans to achieve, elevate, and sustain Christian education in West Michigan.